INTERVIEWS

On the heels of International Dwarfism Awareness Day (October 25) and as we approach ‘International Day of Persons with Disabilities’ (IDPWD) celebrated on December 3, Mary O’Brien meets with Róisín White, mother of Lia, an eight-year-old child with achondroplasia and Pauline Cotter, (67), who has the same condition. They share their […]

Running from a troubled childhood and the confines of a life governed by societal conformity and institutional religion drove Graham – now known by his spiritual name ‘Gyan’ meaning wise – Ordish to run away from home at the age of 16 and set up camp in a cave in […]

Travellers have been part of Irish life for centuries, long before the Great Famine, although it’s only in recent years that they have been formally recognised as a distinct ethnic group within the Irish state. Traditionally nomadic, working and trading and camping in barrel top wagons alongside the road, an […]

Bere islander Gerald Orpen, 86, spent his working life at sea until the recession hit Ireland in the 1980s and he packed his bag and headed to New York to find work on a construction site. While the island was a wonderful place to raise a family, it wasn’t an […]

There isn’t a whisper of a West Cork accent in Dave Scully’s voice, as he serves up his famous sirloin steak burgers over the counter to a regular. “Howya love” and “Janey Mac” are common refrains as customers spill into the butcher shop on Pearse Street in Clonakilty. “I’ll change […]

A familiar character around town and still on the shop floor, known for his friendly, if occasionally gruff nature, Christy Thornhill, 76, is possibly most famous for being one of the first rowers in Skibbereen after he was captured on camera in the fifties taking a trip down the llen […]